It’s not about Trump or Clinton at the end of the day. It’s about you…me…us. Those two rich people will be just fine. Americans need to decide what they want from our government relative to what our government can or should provide.

As strange as it may sound, my community might improve after having Trump in the White House because every family will officially know that the government is operated by people who won’t be doing much for you. We all know parents who did so much for their kids that the children grew up soft and dependent—give me, give me, give me. On the other hand, other kids come from families who struggled to put food on the table. These kids started grinding the second they became adults and never looked back.

The fundamental question about the government safety net programs is this: is it fair to tax those hard working Americans to help those who are too “cute” to do entry level work. So, you are too cool to pick fruit or flip burgers but you have no problem having other people feed your little kids.

At the end of the day, improving your life starts with you…not Trump or Clinton. My friends come from across the political spectrum. We must work together to write the next chapter in American history. America isn’t perfect…the only perfect anything ever on this earth was Jesus in my opinion. But, we still strive to “form a more perfect union.” This nation was constructed on a shaky foundation because all men here were not created equally.

I will always love my southern homegirl Dr. Condoleezza Rice. Dr. Rice rightfully said that racism is America’s birth defect. Oh, that “blank” was deep. So, quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a national debate that should help some people understand that something to you might be something completely different to others. At the same time, the glorification of crime and guns in some hip hop hurts my community more than the current Klan…real talk.

Let’s do this before the election: we should have a cool forum series around a conference table on what we should do in the Black community moving forward. Clinton and Trump will spend billions getting at each other but see if my friends and I can fund this project.

In Georgia, the Democrats don’t seem to care about Democrats outside the cities…Atlanta, Augusta, Albany, Macon, Columbus and Savannah. No candidate can win Georgia statewide without cultivating some rural areas—keep it close in the country and go over the top in the cities.

However, the Dem elite in D.C. and Atlanta only see metro Atlanta as the big prize. Then, these geniuses meager efforts outside Atlanta consist of running radio ads produced in Atlanta. If not for the far Right being nutty, the GOP could have capitalized on Dems ignoring rural southerners. They want statewide candidates who can self-fund so their fancy Buckhead cohorts can get paid consulting fees and media buy fees.

The area from Warner Robins to Thomasville to Brunswick to Statesboro produced some nice numbers for Obama twice but there is little buzz here now…no fire. If Hillary Clinton wants to win Georgia and if someone else wants to be a Democrat Governor or Senator, it starts with not ignoring big sections of the state this year. My friends and I are never called but we have been in the middle of the grassroots mix for years. A recent Washington Post article states that Atlanta again would be the target of Dem campaign monies.

The question becomes this: how long will southern rural moderate Democrats be ignored before we start exploring other options. Hey, if Dems can’t win in my region, shouldn’t I consider the less crazy of GOP candidates during primaries. Why do you think this Democrat voted in the Republican GOP primary for John Kasich….to avoid this: President Trump. If all of Georgia and the nation doesn’t vote, the President Trump nightmare might become reality.

If not for Blacks in the South, Bernie Sanders would be the Democrat nominee. Donald P. Trump might still be president because his side is about to release two months of hell on Hillary Clinton. Some of that mud could turn off Clinton Dust Belt voters but southern Blacks will be down with the Clintons and Obamas. However, we don’t need a zillion dollars in T.V. ads…half a zillion will do. The other half zillion needs to be used in good old Get Out The Vote with a social media twist….party with a purpose.

Us vs. Them and this side vs. that side has me weary. I am on the side of right. But, we should consider the plight of the southside today…southside of town, of the state and of the nation. Oh, it’s an issue because the governor wants to control schools on the southside, Atlanta feels it’s carrying South Georgia at times, and the America South doesn’t get the respect it deserves.

Traditionally, southern towns were divided by railroad tracks and my community was on the southside. Some of us wax nostalgic for Black businesses, Black schools, and Black neighborhoods. Was integration a two edged-sword? The November ballot includes a constitutional amendment to create a so-called Opportunity School District. The OSD would be a statewide district and the governor’s appointee could closed an underperforming school or privatize it.

In many cases, the schools on the list are the last neighborhood schools on the southside of their towns. Schools, hospitals and governmental buildings often serve as institutional anchors of an area.

In many Georgia towns, the battle isn’t northside vs. southside; it’s city vs. county. Let’s be real, southern White people love owning land; I like that myself. If you have several acres in the country, it seems like your own kingdom or estate. Fox News and conservative talk radio have those people retreating to their forts…guns in hand.

If you notice, the new schools are in the county or on the outskirts of town because the White exodus left a Black center. “Wait a minute I might live in the county but my tax dollars pay for too much…federal, state and local. I should still control the city.” If you are a millionaire in the county, Kesha who works at the plant has more pull in town than you…if she would only vote. The money-having White minority who live in town controlling everything would be American apartheid.

On the state level, Georgia’s governmental power struggle is between Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. The governor and a disproportionate number of leaders are from North Georgia. The reason why is simple…they vote every time up there. South Georgia seems like an afterthought. Newsflash, every dadgum body can’t live in the Atlanta….and that statement comes from people living in Atlanta.

Nationally, the South has it’s own vibe/favor. I am going to scream if I continue to hear and read “urban” as a synonym for “Black” in the news and on BET. Blacks who live in the country want to be in the country. We should be approached differently than our cousins in the city. If not for racism and lack of employment, many of those city Blacks would love being back in the piney woods. If they sold their ATL McMansions and got acres in the county, where would current county folks flee to next?

There is a growing sentiment that the Democrat establishment cares more about the LBGTQ community and the undocumented Latino community than southern Blacks. Bernie Sanders would have beaten Hillary Clinton if not for Blacks in the South. I don’t agree with my friends that think all Blacks wanted from the election of Obama was for him to be Black….that’s bull. We appreciate President Obama’s service…period.

In summary, we must vote, speak up and stay vocal because the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you don’t vote, you have zero right to complain about President Trump’s view of the southside…typing President Trump was difficult.

The 2016 presidential race will be decided by who is taken for granted. Five groups are in the political arena: the traditional Democrats, the Bernie Sanders liberals, the traditional Republicans, the Trump revolutionaries, and registered voters who might stay home. If you check history, the side that gets out it’s base while securing the center/moderates wins, i.e. Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan.

“For granted” could be a pun of “for granite” because the foundation of a political party should be etched in stone…rock solid. In 2016, nothing is rock solid. First of all, Hillary Clinton better not forget that Blacks in Dixie won the nomination for her; Sanders was winning all over New England, the Rust Belt and with the liberals of the Pacific Northwest.

When it’s time to set the Democratic platform, we better see some southern pine planks. The fear is that Sanders and his people will demand some socialism that pulls Hillary too far left. The Democrats shouldn’t be surprised that Sanders isn’t a team player because he isn’t really a Democrat.

Of course, the traditional Republicans are pulling out what remains of their hair because Trump is a loose cannon. They risk permanently damaging their brand if he is the leader of their party but his folks might bounce like Sander’s people if he is disrespected.

The voters who might stay home are primarily Obama supporters who registered to make history in 2008. About history, Obamacrats need to know that his historic gains would be reverse quick, fast and in a hurry by Trump.

Trump and Sanders created successful national agendas from the bottom up while the two major parties normally sit in D.C. offices and create the agendas—top down. Well, the people have spoken and they like the unconventionality of Trump and Sanders. Newsflash: you can tell voters you would do this and that if in office but actually doing that stuff is impossible or improbable.

The Trump and the Sanders folks need to consider the hip hop axiom “be where you are celebrated..not tolerated.”

The Bible says in Psalm 118:22 “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” The side that takes granite for granted will watch their political house fall in the Fall. Black folks have been granite for the southern Democrats but who calls the shots…who is at the table when the money is counted…who gets crumbs after the big dogs feast.

Finally, I want to explore what happens to Black people if Trump becomes president. Democrats give Blacks a false sense of hope; “the government is going to fix your life.” We know Trump isn’t “studying” us and that’s the reason our community might be compelled to improve on our own if he was in the White House. In a strange twist, that man in the Oval Office could bring out our best by necessity.

The reduction of absolutes in our daily thinking would improve our functioning in the world. A new friend recently explained that she tries to limit “absolutes” because she isn’t judgmental. Of course, she when on with biblical references and might have tossed in Tupac’s statement about God and judging. Whatever, my big takeaway or teachable moment came from the absolute part.

The dictionary defines absolute as “free from imperfection, complete, perfect; free from restrictions or limitations.” If you think about it, ignorant people like Donald Trump walk around all day talking about “all” this and “every” that. For the record, Trump is brilliant…he just plays dumb on T.V. to build his brand.

As a Black southern kid, I knew I had to be mindful of absolutes because many southern Black minds are restricted by self-imposed limitations. “Why you talkin’ White….we not supposed to play tennis…we play football and basketball…we ‘posed to struggle….you got to wear the latest style.”

Would someone please tell the ignorant that fashion comes and goes but style remains the same…furthermore, fashion is a cruel scheme created to separate you from your little money. Often, people with sensible style use saved money to buy HOUSES…but you just keep on making Michael Jordan and Michael Korrs rich.

Speaking in absolutes indicates your mental limits and I can write that because people like that wouldn’t read 200 words down into an article or blog post. (Smile) Let’s talk about them.

Every and All Examples

All Black folks like chicken and basketball. (I happen to love both)

All Jewish people have money.

Every Black person is looking for a handout.

All Blacks with nice cars are selling drugs.

All poor Whites drink Mountain Dew.

All Asians are good at math.

All Muslims are terrorists.

All Christians aren’t terrorists.

All women date for money.

All money is evil.

Everyone should worship like you.

Every White person is exactly like the few Whites you have met.

Everyone in the hood is up to no good.

Everyone in a fancy community got there from fair dealing.

All teachers really want to do another job.

Everyone must pay to play.

All hip hop is bad.

All hip hop is good.

Every man cheats…a man is going to be a man.

All politicians are shady.

All guns are bad.

Every southern White person wants to still own slaves.

All limitations on Blacks come from Whites.

Everyone in the world is out to get America.

Everything the U.S. government does in the world is good.

All Mexicans want to take my job.

All Frenchmen want to take my wife.

Nobody wants my wife…including me.

Everyone in the Pacific Northwest is a candles and sandals liberal.

All Republicans are evil.

Blacks are never conservatives.

No White southerners are Democrats and they couldn’t wait to get the hell out of a party with Negroes.

Everyone in a hoodie is a thug.

Everyone who loves NASCAR wants their country back.

All Indian store owners smell funny. (Newsflash: you smell like what you eat and your pork eating –ss smells funny to them…but they thank you for getting them rich.)

All gay people are trying to recruit you because you are irresistible.

This humorous list could go on and on but the point is made. We must think with more understanding and complexity. “All” and “every” could be replaced with “most” or “most that I have met in my limited life.” You know the real deal is this: people with mental and cultural limits don’t realize how dumb they are and get used by manipulators time and time again. Businessmen were at home when the Klansmen were doing their dirty work…well, some were right there in the mix. Some rappers are negatively shaping our community’s culture while other folks reap the benefits.

Everyone should be mindful of what they say out loud. The Trump supporters aren’t new…they just decided to say out loud what they had been thinking for years. Malcolm X would have thanked them for their honesty because honesty is the starting point of most productive dialogs.

How little people know about people living near them. As a Black southerner, I am a descendant of people who built America for free against their will. This land is definitely your land and my land. The Confederate battle flag is a part of our collective history…as was my “X” hat in college.

Firstly, there should be a difference between a flag in places that represent all citizens of a state and individual recognition of heritage. Since the beginning of human interaction, you have had winners and losers and winners write history. How did the southern states imprint parts of the CSA into southern governments after they were defeated in war? I won’t go into comparisons with Germany, Nazi and swastika but you get the point.

Consider this: why should we remove indicators of our trouble past when our present is also troubled. If I go into my pantry and remove all the labels on canned goods, it wouldn’t change what’s inside. For the record, Blacks and Whites can be racist and to some, Black racial mindfulness is somewhat understandable. My point is change what is inside first.

Malcolm X use to say he had more respect for a man who tells him how he feels (even if he is wrong) than for a man who smiles in his face but who is evil. During my youth, I read Black nationalist information and came to appreciate the “do for self” mentality. There was a time when rocking an X hat made certain folks steer clear of you. Good.

I often steer clear of folks with the Confederate battle flag but I in some way appreciate their display of how they are thinking. You wanted a group to win a war and if said group won, I might be a slave today. From a military standpoint, real history buffs can intelligently admire fighting techniques and efforts of the Confederates and the Nazis but haul ass from around me with that “I wish they won stuff.”

Remember also, Whites in the North weren’t fight for equal rights for Blacks. Many of them just wanted to stop the expansion of slavery because slave did work for free that Whites wanted to be paid to do.

In D.C., I saw a bumper sticker that said “If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have picked my own dam cotton.” A friend once said life is too short to argue with fools. A fool believes America would have been a great power again Spain, England and France without years of the economic boost of free labor.

I also steer clear from certain Blacks with their own indicators but that’s a topic for another day. Project Logic Ga continues it’s Best Interests Initiative and hopefully reasonable folks will get to know the opinions of others.

My Congressman Austin Scott was courageously interested in changing the Georgia flag when he was in the state legislature. I bet he is singing a different tune today…he isn’t whistling Dixie because the Tea Party is a beast.

An incident between the police and kids at a pool party in Texas recently is going to spark another debate about authorities and the Black community. As part of the ongoing Best Interest Initiative of this blog, I write this post with the freedom and law section in mind.

At first glance, it appears that kids were having a pool party and likely over-invited too many friends. The police might have been called after a fight. To me, the neighbors called the police when so many dark faces showed up in their enclave. Those who grew up Black in the American South were constantly mindful of risk from being us down here. Kids today seem to think racism and bigotry are over in part because we reach the point of having a Black president. But, if you asked President Obama if racism was over, he would smile that smile that really says “Negro, please…if you knew half of the ugliness I face for having a brown face.”

So, there might have been too many kids in the area at the pool party and the police decided to take control of the situation. Of course, I think they would have been smoother if all the kids were White and to be fair I think kids (Black and White) in groups can have smart mouths around their friends….we were the same way at times back in the day.

If I had a son at that party and the police said go home, he needs to start home and call me if he feels his rights were being violated. I have respect for parents who would say their child doesn’t need to follow a police command that seems unfair or unlawful. I wanted my Black child to come home every night. I don’t want him or her in the morgue, the jail or the hospital. If that requires flexing your rights on some level, we will take that up with our attorney. The ensuing lawsuit might pay for your college education.

As a side note, I am watching a long interview with Minister Louis Farrakhan in which he said that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani wasn’t wrong in stating that 93% of Blacks are killing by other Blacks and that 75% of crime in New York City takes place in Black areas. Of course, the minister and mayor disagree on the root causes of those problems but there are Black people who wonder why there is such uproar when the police kill someone while we kill each other in the same area all the time for silly reasons. Yea, but the police still should know better.

At the Texas pool party, a policeman was using really inappropriate language when the confused kids didn’t move fast enough for him. He later put a girl in a swimsuit on the ground in such a violent manner that most fathers would have pulled up swinging on him. The police ended up pulling this firearm on the upset crowd.

Both sides of the incident will come out this week but kids need to know when to dial down or defuse situation when dealing with authority. When I was in junior high school, our band director was Mr. Jesse Walker, a brilliant man of music. At the time I didn’t know that Mr. Walker was teaching life lessons as well as music. He was a Black man preparing the Black kids for life in a White world and preparing White students to acknowledge a cool relationship with someone from a different part of time.

Well, I got too much of that life stuff at home and I was simply there to play trumpet. But, Mr. Walker, a military veteran, knew it wasn’t about the destination as much as the journey. We were taking yearbook photos in uniform after school one day and all the Black guys changed gear in one classroom. At band practice the next day, Eric informed Mr. Walker that his watch was misplaced and asked that the band keep an eye out for it—he never said anything about stealing. Mr. Walker said something about stealing being wrong and said he wanted everyone who was in that room to stand up. I will never forget that he then said “Band, you are looking at thieves.” Say, what? He was talking about future advance degree holders, military leaders and a couple millionaires (I wish I was one of those.)

At the second he said thieves, I sat down because I was certainly wasn’t a thief and knew those other fellows weren’t. Eric had a look of disbelief because he never wanted to put us in that situation. The real issue here was authority and Mr. Walker needed us to respect authority but I wasn’t hearing that. Today, I know that authority needs to be respect at the point of conflict and the incident can be taken up with a higher authority later—when cooler heads prevail.

Of course, my school teacher daddy was doing the same kinds of things in the agriculture building than Mr. Walker was doing at the band building. To me, both of them were wrong. Mr. Walker told me to stand up and I said I wasn’t standing up if those standing were thieves. He took me into a back room and paddled but I refused to stand. I got my stuff and walked out of that place crying but my dignity was intact.

I had to hear at home that Mr. Walker knew what he was doing and that countless kids had learned so much from being in his band but what he was teaching I didn’t want to know. There is a fine line between tough love and humiliation. Machiavelli and Malcolm X would say that the end justifies the means but no. Eric discovered a hole in his band blazer a few days later; the watch was in the lining of the jacket the whole time. I would return to the band if Mr. Walker apologized to me and the fellows in front of the whole band but that wasn’t happening.

Check this, guys who join the Army Rangers, Navy Seals, attend a service academy like West Point or who pledge a Black frat old school style learn about their personal steel and fortitude. Anything that comes up after that in life is a piece of cake. I would have been a better person if I learned to submit and trust the brethren. I should have gone straight to a black college and join one of the elite Black fraternities as a sophomore. My attempt to join one as a senior didn’t work because I don’t like people barking in my face. I never married for the same reason.

1,000 words later, I end this post by referring to the Best Interest Initiative section on Faith. I wrote there about Romans 13:1 in which Paul wrote about governing authorities. Kids should develop the ability to determine when to confront and when to go home. Senator Robert Kennedy said life isn’t worth living if you don’t have something worth dying for and Farrakhan likes to point out that the Boston Tea Party was a criminal act that led to the founding of this great nation. In the end, pick your battles. Telling the police that they are wrong might get you ended. As we said in the 80s, they will put your head out.

Romans 13, 1-5.

1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.2Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.